Gleam drops Erlang source code generation for faster builds

Gleam just cut its build times by skipping Erlang source generation entirely.

In Gleam v1.19.0, contributor Giacomo Cavalieri replaced the language's Erlang code generator. Instead of writing text files of Erlang source code, Gleam now outputs binary "Erlang abstract forms" straight into Erlang's compiler pipeline. According to the release note, this bypasses Erlang's tokenizer and parser entirely.

Why it matters: Project builds compile significantly faster, and crash reports now point to your exact Gleam source line instead of generated Erlang code. The project gets big performance gains without taking on the heavy maintenance burden of targeting raw BEAM bytecode.

Gleam chose abstract forms over raw BEAM bytecode because bytecode formats shift across virtual machine releases. Compiling to abstract forms gives Gleam speed while keeping compiler maintenance manageable for a community-sponsored project—the exact same strategy used by Elixir.

Plus, the maintainers never have to hear someone call Gleam a transpiler again.